Ex Nihilo
by Cinderelynx
Summary: Izuku "Deku" Midoriya was really a special case when it came to heroes. He came from nothing. None of his family had been heroes, or rich, or remarkable in any way. He was determined to change that.
1. Chapter 1

"Again?"

"Again!"

"Izuku, sweetie, I think you're responsible for half this video's views already! It's a little too scary for mommy to watch."

Izuku Midoriya wanted more than anything to be a hero just like All Might.

"When I get my quirk, I'm gonna be just like him!"

* * *

"I'm afraid there's no hope for him."

"No! Surely there's some sort of mistake? He was showing signs with all the rest of the kindergartners! He- he's got something, hasn't he?"

"He does lack a second joint, but historically, a quirk that goes under within the first weeks of development does not return. Your son is functionally quirkless."

* * *

Ten years later, Midoriya plodded along the street, face downturned.

"You need to be realistic," All Might had told him. "It's not wrong to dream, but without power, can one become a hero? No, I should think not."

" _I suppose he's right. Of course I can't be a hero like All Might,"_ Izuku thought bitterly, " _I'd just get in the way of the pros. They're faster and stronger than me and so are the villains."_

His one chance to meet his idol hadn't gone so well. The empty street gave him plenty of time to regret it.

" _Don't cry! I knew this already. Even the best of the best said it. Still, it hurts… it's because I tried so damn hard,"_ he rationalized, " _in another life, if my quirk hadn't vanished, I would be one of the best."_

The sound of an explosion shocked him out of his thoughts. It quickly became clear why the streets were so empty. Down a side street across the road from him was a congregation of hundreds of bystanders to a fight.

" _Don't go. I always do this. I'm so used to gawking, but I'll just make myself feel like an even bigger loser."_

He refused to look any longer until he realized who was involved in the fight. Gasping, he turned to the scene, confirming his fears: the villain he had struggled with earlier had escaped from All Might.

" _All Might must have dropped him when I grabbed on! This is my fault."_

"Why are the heroes just standing there? It seems like he's grabbed a middle schooler!" a voice called out from the crowd. More and more voices joined them, and Midoriya began to move.

" _This is my fault. I- I have to do something!"_

His instincts screamed at him to stay away, but the battered spirit inside him insisted. His feet moved before logic could take hold. A glimpse of the victim sparked something inside him, spurring him on faster and faster as he shoved through the crowd.

"Get back here, you idiot!" someone screamed.

His internal monologue returned as he questioned why he was doing this, but he was going to fall if he stopped now. The villain began to threaten him, shooting towards him with lethal abandon. All of the boy's studies returned and he threw his backpack as hard as he could.

"Kacchan!"

"Deku! Why?!"

"My legs started moving before I could think!"

It was a little pathetic when he looked back on it, but that moment was a step in the right direction that day. So many things could have gone wrong, but he had a streak of luck. All Might had swooped in to save them at the last second.

* * *

To his surprise, the rest of his walk home wasn't as depressing as it had started off as. He'd gained a sort of closure from his own act of heroism, even if it had nearly gone south. All Might had no qualms about crushing that.

"I AM HERE!" the hero cried as he dashed around a corner. His muscle form collapsed and he spat blood for a moment.  
"All Might? W-what are you doing here?"

"I've come to apologize. I was wrong about what I said earlier. I have a proposal…"

"Huh?!"

"Without you, without your story, I'd be little more than an action figure for the media to play with. Fake muscles, insincere smiles, and a message of hypocrisy."

"That — no, All Might! I mean, it was all my fault from the beginning! I got in your way even though I'm quirkless, I dared to ask if-"

"Exactly my point, young man. Of all the people at that scene, it was _you_ who moved first, despite your powerlessness in the situation. You spurred me to action! Young man, there is something you must know about your actions. Most of the top heroes have similar stories from their childhoods… their bodies moved before they could think! You show those traits!"

Midoriya fell to his knees, tears filling his eyes. This was too much for him.

"You **can** be a hero!"

* * *

 **A/N: This is not going to be the standard length for chapters. Tell me what ship you'd like to see in this story, M/F. Dekuraka is cute, but vanilla, Dekumina is really cute but if this gets big I don't want to take any spotlight from Awkward Energy… Too many to pick from, but I'm not a harem writer. Give me your ideas! I only have one concrete ship and it's Yaoyoroki. Todorozu?**


	2. Chapter 2

" _Maybe,"_ Izuku thought, " _I should be exercising more, even without becoming All Might's successor."_

He was currently jogging from his apartment to Dagobah Municipal Beach Park, where he was tasked with cleaning up years worth of trash. All Might's so-called "Pass the Test, American Dream" plan had seemed daunting yesterday, but waking up this morning gave him hope. He was nowhere near as sore as he had expected.

The sun was barely crowning over the horizon when he reached the park. Izuku was thankful for the feeling of the sun, it helped wake him up — All Might was right when he said his fitness regimen was difficult. Waking up at 4 in the morning, and going to sleep at midnight.

Shaking off his exhaustion, Izuku pounded down the steps to the small clearing in the mountains of trash on the beach.

Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, he looked around. All Might didn't seem to be here yet, but Izuku could start moving the lighter objects towards the entrance to the park, where All Might had parked a truck. He had moved several tires before he heard a voice behind him.

"Young Midoriya! I'm impressed. You must have been early."

"A-All Might! I u-uh wasn't-" Izuku stammered, showing his mentor the time on his phone.

All Might coughed, splashing droplets of blood on the ground. "My watch is wrong!"

Three hours later, Midoriya sat in class, his head buzzing. On the teacher's board was some nonsense about architectural standards in the wake of superpowers.

" _I'm in major trouble if I can't finish a week before the exam. There are 294 days until then, and if I want to be efficient, I have to let my muscles recover for at least two days following a workout. That means I have at most 98 days of training, at five hours a day between morning and night, or 490 hours total. All Might won't be there the whole time, so I can make adjustments to the plan if he doesn't notice. Adding more time by cutting my sleep hours would do more harm than good, so I'll have to be exercising passively throughout the day. Maybe I could cut my recovery time-"_

"Midoriya, did you hit your head during that villain attack?" his teacher asked him, poking him with an extended hand.

Izuku's hands immediately clapped over his mouth. Without thinking, he had begun speaking aloud. All around him, he could hear his classmates talking about him.

"Ridiculous how he thinks he'll get into U.A.-"

"Creepy."

"He's gone positively neurotic, hasn't he?"

It was embarrassing, but he had more pressing matters. Stammering out an apology, he pretended to be engaged in the lesson for the rest of the class.

The week flew by and it was suddenly the weekend again. This was all the free time he had, between school and training. It had been tempting to sleep in, but he had gone through his regular routine.

He'd cleaned another swath of the beach before realization hit him. He was nowhere near as sore as he'd expected to be. In just a week, he was sure he could see and feel a noticeable difference in his body. Taking a moment to inspect himself, he had gained noticeable muscle mass since beginning his training. Standing there, he also noticed his smell.

" _Gross, I need a shower,"_ he thought, looking down at himself. His shoes seemed pretty ratty too. " _I probably need a new pair of these as well."_

By the time he made it back to his apartment, his mother had woken up. Even over the smell of breakfast, he was noticeable.

"Izuku, you need a shower!" she laughed.

He blushed. "Do I smell that bad?"

"Yes, sweetie. We need to get you some stronger deodorant or something."

"I can run to the store after breakfast if you'd like! I, uh, also need new shoes."

"I'll make a list," Inko called out as he ran to his room.

* * *

Izuku always felt guilty asking his mother for new things. Money was tight, he knew, but the soles on his shoes were practically coming off. He was so deep in his thoughts, he didn't see the curb approach while he walked across the street.

His toe made contact with the curb, and he tripped. Surprisingly, though, the ground never hit him.

"Are you okay?"

He righted himself and turned to look at the person speaking.

"Y-yeah," he stammered. "D-did you u-use your quirk?"

"I know I'm not supposed to, but it would be bad luck if you fell! Besides, nobody noticed. It's probably fine," the girl spoke, smiling at him.

"T-thanks!"

She smiled and walked past him. "It's no trouble!" she waved over her shoulder.

He blushed. He'd never really talked to a girl before. Especially not a cute one.

Snapping out of it, he continued on his way to the store.

* * *

Later that day, Izuku found himself back at the park, moving even more trash. He was surprised by the amount he'd managed to move. In the brief span of only a week, he had cleared a path to the ocean nearly a hundred feet from the stairs, and nearly twenty feet wide.

He was proud of what he had accomplished. He walked up the stairs to rest for a moment, and snapped a picture of the path to send to All Might, with the sun setting right down the middle of it.

"Hey!" a vaguely familiar voice called out. The girl from earlier was walking towards him. "I can't believe I ran into you twice today!"

"Yeah, that's kind of weird," Izuku laughed nervously.

"Are you cleaning the beach?"

"Um, yes, I'm training for an e-exam…"

"What kinda exam?" the girl smiled, standing next to him.

"I-I'm planning on applying to U.A. in a few months."

"No way! Me too! Sorry, I should introduce myself. I'm Ochaco Uraraka. Nice to meet you!" she said, holding her hand out.

"I'm Izuku Midoriya."

They talked for a while about U.A., and slowly, Izuku got more comfortable. Hearing about her ambitions was nice, especially since it seemed he wasn't the only one nervous about the exam. It was therapeutic to share his story, even if it was embarrassing when she asked him if he was a big fan of All Might.

When the sun reached the horizon, though, she stopped mid-sentence.

"Ahh! I was supposed to be home fifteen minutes ago!" she looked at Izuku. "Sorry to run off all of a sudden, Midoriya. I'll give you my number! Call me if you need anything, or if you want to hang out, or train for the exam together!"

He handed her his phone for a moment and she added a contact, before handing it back and racing off down the street.

"See you later, Midoriya!"

He looked down at the new contact on his phone. " _Ochaco-chan,"_ it read.

* * *

He finished cleaning the beach two weeks before the exam. Not a speck of dust remained, not even in the ocean; he'd gone diving to clean up the waters as well. All Might had checked in with him twice a month, to make sure he was following the plan.

"My goodness, Midoriya!" the man said, puffing up his appearance. "You did it! And with two weeks to spare!"

Izuku smiled. He'd pushed himself harder and harder and before he knew it the job was done. Every day for the past ten months he'd been here, carrying some sort of junk away.

"All Might! I did it! I did it!" he yelled, punching his fist in the air. Tears of happiness beaded in his eyes, and he wiped them away with a shaking arm.

"You did! And look at how much you've changed!" he said, showing Midoriya a picture.

"What's this?"

"That's you, ten months ago. You're a true vessel for One For All now."

"It feels like I cheated, though… I got all this help from you, All Might."

"Don't be stupid!" he laughed. "I didn't do anything! I simply showed you the way. You did all of this," he gestured to the beach around them, "by yourself! Take this to heart, kid: you earned this power fair and square."

"Now, for your reward! Eat this!"

Izuku looked dumbly at the outstretched hand. "Your hair?"

"It really doesn't matter! You just have to ingest my DNA, and our options are limited as far as that goes. I guess I could make a knuckle sandwich…" he laughed.

The boy's eyes went comically wide. "No, no! I'll eat the hair. I just thought it would be more… glamorous?"

* * *

It took hours before Izuku felt anything. It started as a stomachache, and he got drowsier by the minute. He slept straight through dinner, and didn't wake up until he had to be at the beach the next day.

"Midoriya! Are you alright?" All Might called to his pupil as soon as he saw him running down the stairs.

"I'm okay! I overslept! Sorry!" Izuku yelled back, running over the sand and nearly tripping.

"That's okay! I should have told you about the side effects. Gaining a quirk is not an easy process for the body, and you probably used up a massive amount of calories doing so. We will be visiting U.A. today, and we may not get back until after our normal hours."

"U.A.!? But the entrance exam isn't for another two weeks! What are we going to be doing at U.A.?"

"Keep this secret, but I will be teaching at U.A. this year. I have access to their campus for our training purposes. You're going to learn how to use your power."

* * *

Izuku looked up at the buildings around him. They were at one of the testing facilities U.A. had built, the scale of which simply boggled his mind. Each of the buildings was hundreds of feet tall at the least, a replica of an actual city block. He was worried that if he were to use All Might's power here, he'd knock over a building.

"How do you feel compared to yesterday, Midoriya?" his mentor asked.

"Different, I think? It's like there's something lying under my skin that wasn't there before. Like the feeling you get when you see something exciting."

"Perfect! The feeling of adrenaline is a very good place to start. Do you remember the feeling when you swung your backpack at that villain? I want you to summon up as much of that feeling as you can get, take that rush of adrenaline, and punch the air in front of you."

Izuku stretched his arms for a moment, hoping the nervousness would fade, and tension filled his body.

"Detroit Smash!" he yelled, punching as hard into the air as he could. Nothing happened.

All Might cringed internally. "Your enthusiasm is good, but not quite there. I'm not quite sure how to explain it. The whole _smash_ thing isn't necessary, either."

"How did it feel when you used your quirk for the first time?"

"That was a very long time ago, but I got the hang out of it quickly. It's an odd feeling," All Might thought for a moment, "I think I've got it. When I do it, it's a tension throughout my whole body, but fluid. Clench your butt and let your heart cry out!"

Again, Izuku did just that. Still, nothing happened. It was completely underwhelming.

"Give me a moment. I may have to call someone else in to explain it."

"It's fine, All Might, I think I get what you mean. I just need to try again. Are you sure it won't make my limbs explode though, like what you said at the beginning of my training?"

"You're more than past that point, I think. It's a body created in a rush, but it should be fairly resilient. It's almost unsettling how quickly you adjusted."

" _I've never met anyone who recovers that quickly from the punishment he was putting himself through. It's almost superhuman, and he was putting himself through more than he told me, I'm sure."_

Izuku collected his thoughts. He was sure there was something different than yesterday. It was in his movements, his muscles, somewhere. Ever since he'd begun training, he'd noticed a massive increase in his physical strength, but since yesterday, it was like his muscles were on overdrive. Like they were constantly extended, constantly ready to be used. Breathing in, he flexed his hands, trying to notice the difference.

It was like a key turning in his brain, and he felt it over his whole body. Energy flowed throughout his body like a waterfall.

"That's it! Now throw a punch!" All Might smiled at his pupil's success.

"I don't know if I can move."

* * *

 **A/N: This took way too damn long to write. I've figured some of the story out as of now, and his quirk has actually changed from last chapter to now. I think the title and description have changed three times now but it should be good. This is going up unedited, but I'm not super happy with the amount of line breaks there are. I'll be trying to clean up my writing, and aim for 2000-3000 word chapters. I've decided on Izuraka because it's easiest to write within the bounds of canon. Suggestions are appreciated!**


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